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Stone pelting a conspiracy by Pakistan and its agents in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir is "not a law and order issue", rather these are outcome of a cleverly drafted conspiracy by Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, orchestrated with the covert and overt support and funding of Pakistan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed.

"Stone pelting in Kashmir has become a full-fledged industry wherein the cadres of Hurriyat and its constituent groups have organised themselves at district, tehsil, wards and mohalla level, and leaders at appropriate stages have formed an armed wing represented by masked stone-pelters, consisting mainly of youth of Kashmir Valley," says NIA chargesheet, accessed by TOI.

Terming separatists as the "political face of the terrorism in Kashmir", NIA says that All Parties Hurriyat Conference and terrorists have devised strategies as part of their "larger plot to break Jammu and Kashmir away from India".

There are planners, strategists, fund raisers, cash couriers, logistic and support network, executors, publicity managers and political propagandists who continuously devise strategies and programmes by way of organising bandhs, forcible closure of roads, government establishments, damaging public property including burning of schools, arson, bank looting and directing mass violence against security forces, in general and at encounter sites, it says.

These professional stone pelters initiate violence in various urban, semi-urban and rural areas of Kashmir, by coercing innocent people to attack army, CRPF or J&K police, thereby using them as "cannon fodder".

To control the engineered violence, security forces deployed for maintenance of law and order are "often compelled to use force, including pellet guns", NIA says, adding that youth injured by pellet guns are used as "trophies" by the separatists to highlight their agenda.

An elaborate calendar of protests, authored by joint resistance leadership — including Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — having detailed instructions of hartal(strike), picketing, blockage of roads/routes, suspension of public transport, instruction for organising procession and marches, writing of graffiti on walls, exhorting people to play Azadi Taranas (songs) and complete shutdown of markets and other economic activities, is disseminated in advance.

Asserting that violence has affected the economy of Kashmir, NIA says, "The long periods of shutdown and massive violence/stone pelting has brought Kashmir to the brink of economic collapse"NIA probe has further revealed that Kashmiri students who go to Pakistan universities are either relatives of former/active militants or known to Hurriyat leaders.

NEW DELHI: Among the documents cited as evidence to prove a nexus between Pakistan government, ISI and Hurriyat leaders, the National Investigation Agency has submitted in court a letter written by a Pakistani Prime Minister to main hawala conduit and chargesheeted businessman from the Valley, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali. Part of court documents in NIA's Jammu and Kashmir terror funding chargesheet+ , the letter was recovered from Watali's residence last year.

NIA officials refused to divulge which Prime Minister of Pakistan had written to Watali as this letter is part of sealed documents.

However, sources said that the businessman is known to have met former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif while former PM of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Sultan Mahmood Chaudhari had attended his son's wedding around seven years back.

Charged for bringing in several crores illegally through hawala and other means, Watali is also close to Pakistani spy agency ISI.

NIA says in its chargesheet that it recovered a list of ISI officials from his residence, apart from a letter written by Tariq Shafi, proprietor of Al Shafi Group of Companies addressed to Pakistani high commissioner in New Delhi recommending grant of visa to Watali. "It shows his proximity with Pakistani establishment," says the NIA chargesheet.
Pakistan-based Al Shafi Group has business interests in the field of sugar, iron etc.

NIA says that Tariq Shafi's name figures in the document of foreign contribution, used for anti-India activities, seized from Watali's cashier-cum-accountant Ghulam Mohammad Bhat.

The anti-terror agency has used the testimony of Watali's son Yasir Shah Watali and that of Naim-ul-Zaffar Geelani, son of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, among others to nail the conspirators.

Among eight most crucial witnesses are close aides of Hurriyat leaders, whose statements have been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC. NIA has given them pseudonyms in court documents — "Harry", "Potter", "Charlie", "Romeo", "Alpha", "Gama" and "Pie" —to protect their identities.

These witnesses have explained how Hurriyat conference, outfits like LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen, stone pelters are orchestrating violence in J&K under overall patronage and financial support of Pakistani establishment and agencies.

Talking about the funding of separatists, NIA has claimed that while funds were channelised through hawala, LoC trade and other means, sometimes funds are provided directly by Pakistan High Commission in India.

According to NIA, Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-inlaw, Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh is another crucial link in the case.
"Funtoosh was in direct contact with the High Commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi and would apprise him about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir," says NIA.

NEW DELHI: Two "Pakistan-trained" Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists arrested by police in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday claimed that they received visas from the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, reported ANI.

"The arrested terrorists were given Pakistani visas by Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. It's pertinent to mention that for past couple of years police has unearthed several such modules who lure young boys to Pakistan to get trained and join militancy," ANI quoted the Baramulla police as saying.
The two terrorists were arrested in a joint operation by the police, Army and CRPF in Baramulla.

"These militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba were nabbed immediately after returning via the Wagah-Attari border before they could formally join the militant ranks here in Kashmir," PTI quoted a police spokesman as saying.

The terrorists have been identified as Abdul Majeed Bhat, a resident of Kreeri, and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, of Pattan.

The duo revealed that they had travelled to Pakistan on valid Pakistani visas to receive arms training, to carry out terror attacks in the Valley.

"They said terrorist training camps are located near Burma Town, in Islamabad, and are being run by a terrorist commander operating under code names Hanzala, Adanan and Omar. Other terrorists imparting training to young boys are operating with code names Osama, Naveed and Hataf," the spokesman said.

Upon questioning the two also revealed that they had trained alongside a large group of Pakistani boys, most of whom were from Balochistan, reported ANI.

The group had members as young as 10 years old.

Earlier this week, TOI had reported that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) believes Pakistan is involved in providing technical support to separatists. The agency further believes that Pakistan's spy agency ISI has a "Kashmir Committee" headed by a Brigadier-rank officer to plan and execute terrorist attacks, violence, stone pelting, funding, recruitment, logistics and other anti-India activities.

Among the documents the NIA cited to prove a nexus between the Pakistani government, ISI and Hurriyat leaders, was a letter written by a Pakistani Prime Minister to main hawala conduit and charge-sheeted Valley businessman, Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali.

Watali is close to Pakistan's spy agency ISI and has been charged for bringing in several crores illegally through hawala and other means.

Need to fix the source link in the opener but its a good summary of the situation. How organised and orchestrated it is. The good news is the govt has stated it. Now they have defined it they can start to counter it.

Among eight most crucial witnesses are close aides of Hurriyat leaders, whose statements have been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC.

Need to fix the source link in the opener but its a good summary of the situation. How organised and orchestrated it is. The good news is the govt has stated it. Now they have defined it they can start to counter it.

WASHINGTON: “We want Pakistan to be seen as what it is, a country of more than 200 million people, with a large and vibrant middle class, eager to play its role in the international community,” says Pakistan’s Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary.

The diplomat expressed this desire while inaugurating the embassy’s first interactive website in Washington during the weekend.

But the desire to communicate with the Americans is not confined to the embassy alone. In fact, the Pakistani-American community seems even more eager than the embassy to reach out to other Americans.

For many Pakistani-Americans, this is a new urge, triggered by widespread anti-Pakistani sentiments among most Americans. Before that, most Pakistani-Americans were happy within their group and had minimum contact with the larger community.

But earlier this week, scores of Pakistanis, including representatives of the mainstream political parties, gathered at a restaurant in Northern Virginia to consider various options for reaching out to other Americans.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Embassy also gathered its senior diplomats from across the United States, along with prominent members of the Pakistani-American community, to consider how to boost their country’s image in the United States.

At the community meeting, participants launched a campaign to raise funds for countering anti-Pakistan propaganda, which has reached a new hype after President Donald Trump’s New Year Day tweet.

In that tweet, he blamed Pakistan for continuing to support Afghan insurgents despite receiving billions of dollars from Washington to fight them. Soon after the Tweet, Mr Trump also suspended more than $2 billion of security assistance to Pakistan.

The community seemed particularly concerned about a new campaign, which led to the distribution of “Free Karachi” and “Free Balochistan” pamphlets and posters in New York and Washington recently.

Community leaders decided to counter this move by supporting those Kashmiri and Sikh groups who are demanding freedom from India.

One such group has already started distributing “Free Kashmir” and “Free Khalistan” posters, car stickers and dome lights in New York. The same group has also reached out to Pakistani-Americans in Washington to seek support for launching a similar campaign in the US capital.

Most Pakistani-Americans hope that this counter-campaign will persuade India to reconsider its policy of backing anti-Pakistan groups in Western Europe and North America.

While this counter-campaign may or may not achieve its target, it will be even more difficult to boost Pakistan’s image in the United States as Americans these days are not particularly responsive to pro-Pakistan sentiments.

Need to fix the source link in the opener but its a good summary of the situation. How organised and orchestrated it is. The good news is the govt has stated it. Now they have defined it they can start to counter it.

I don't see much change from an Indian perspective. It's slow and in-efficient. The reaction should be such that the next 2 generations of these traitors cannot breed.

No one gives a shit about Pak claims. And who are these prominent Pak Americans that the article talks about? Jihadi Johns in American soil. Khalistan is dead, done and dusted. The path Pak is on, PoK will be gone too. Never was theirs to start with.

What i don't understand is if AFSPA is in effect then how can a FIR be filed against the army ? What am i missing here

This is a law & order situation, army fired because a junior NCO was in direct danger

The path Pak is on, PoK will be gone too. Never was theirs to start with.

Can't find any evidence that India has tried to win POk back by force. You'd think there were opportunities in '65 & '71. We maintain POK is part of India, this is used to challenge routes CPEC takes, like with the Karakoram highway back in the 70s. But doesn't go beyond.

People in their late 20's, 30's, 40's those that lived through the 90's insurgency know there is no future for these resistance movements. So the separatists target the young, teens and pre-teens. The locals there are happy with what the NIA is doing. Finally the govt is doing what they dare not at the risk of their own lives could do.

What i don't understand is if AFSPA is in effect then how can a FIR be filed against the army ? What am i missing here

This is a law & order situation, army fired because a junior NCO was in direct danger

The Supreme court ended the immunity enjoyed by the forces under AFSPA in 2016. Too much indulgent of the judiciary in matters of the executive does not bode well for the country.

This is what the apex court had to say on July 8, 2016 in a landmark ruling, “It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both... This is the requirement of a democracy and the requirement of preservation of the rule of law and the preservation of individual liberties.”

Originally Posted by Double Edge

Can't find any evidence that India has tried to win POk back by force. You'd think there were opportunities in '65 & '71. We maintain POK is part of India, this is used to challenge routes CPEC takes, like with the Karakoram highway back in the 70s. But doesn't go beyond.

India was nursing its wounds in 65, but 71 was the apt moment to seize PoK, or atleast get it back for the safe return of 93000 Pak Army troops. Mujibur at that time was in West Pakistan and Indira feared for his safety, so a deal was made that India would return the 93K Pak PoWs in return for Mujib's life. Indian narrative about PoK being an integral part of India is valid since 1948, CPEC is just a casualty.

Btw, what I meant is that the suicide lane Pak is on, the Pak Army cannot continue to fool the world for long. It'll fragment all by itself, we just need to light up the sectarian fires inside Pak. What about the most feared Doval doctrine? Not working?

This was what motivated zarb e azab. When that operation finished, they were given relief. It's around this time the CPEC thing starts to kick off. All the press coverage etc.

The FATF had previously warned Islamabad it could be put back on the watchlist without further efforts to crack down on the flow of funds to militants.

Officials also fear it would be harder and more expensive for Pakistan to borrow money from international debt markets if it was put on the FATF monitoring list.

Ismail said the FATF motion focused on Hafiz Saeed, a Pakistan-based Islamist whom India accuses of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. That suggested the United States had put forward the motion at India’s behest, he said.

The Supreme court ended the immunity enjoyed by the forces under AFSPA in 2016. Too much indulgent of the judiciary in matters of the executive does not bode well for the country.

This is what the apex court had to say on July 8, 2016 in a landmark ruling, “It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both... This is the requirement of a democracy and the requirement of preservation of the rule of law and the preservation of individual liberties.”

Very good but i thought what the supreme court said applies to non-disturbed areas of the country. Kashmir and a good part of the NE are still under the disturbed areas classification.

How are the CRPF to deal with these areas otherwise. Something doesn't make sense here

Also consider judicial overreach is likely when the executive is weak. I wouldn't call the present executive weak.